Tales of a Ninja: Scroll of Death
by Orangey10
Summary: Light accidentally unseals Ryuk from a secret scroll. Mysterious chakra strangulation deaths start happening ... to criminals. Will the Hokage stay put, or will she get Kakashi Hatake to find the one person that could solve the case? NarutoxDeathNote
1. Chapter 1: Find from Boredom

**A/N: I thought it might be a really cool experiment to put Death Note into Naruto. I can assure readers that this is not a simple cut and paste - the story will actually be affected, and Naruto characters (or some of them) do play a focal part.**

**Unfortunately, I do not own Death Note or Naruto nor intend to use them for my profit - characters belong to Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata and Masashi Kishimoto, respectively. Regrettably.**

Scroll of Death: Chapter 1: Events of Circumstance

The one thing that Light Yagami would never do was to falter.

His understanding yet curt smile was one of his trademarks, making sure that someone like him was remembered throughout the entirety of Hokage Tower. So much so that one day Godaime-sama herself had abruptly entered the dining hall and singled out the 'genius boy with the smile' for doing a special job. It was clear that Tsunade was drunk, but that happened most hours – the hours she was not drunk was instead dominated by her hangovers, and sometimes it was a hazard to be within a square mile of her presence. Nonetheless Light obeyed, and walked out of the door following the irregular clip-clop of Tsunade's sandals.

After a while, they came to a room marked with 'Out of Order, see Supervisor'. "Tsunade-sama… what is this?" he enquired, though he had a pretty good idea of what lay inside.

"It is the room which houses a lot of secret scrolls," Tsunade slurred. Light bit back his remark about his leader's incompetence as she reached inside her pouch.

She thrust her hand out, gripping Light's wrist and suddenly making a shallow cut on the edge of Light's thumb. He let out a hiss of pain, and glared at her as she muttered an incantation, forcibly pressing Light's thumb on the sutra that bound the door to the wall.

"Now, only you and I can gain access to this room – I hope you know how important your new job will be, Yagami."

-*-*-*-*-*-

Light was the best out of his Academy students, although he didn't have a natural talent for a specific ninjutsu, or have an innate idea of hand-to-hand combat, but his intelligence even at that age was unparalleled, and he even showed promise at chakra control, and genjutsu. His fellow Genin were puzzled as to why the prodigy at the top of the class would forgo any serious active duty, but he did not have the heart to tell them that most if not all the students would have sustained some kind of injury in the line of duty, and the unlucky few might not ever come back from some. He was too afraid of this form of demise, but too proud to admit it, and so he proudly took a job as assistant advisor to Shizune, who herself was assistant to the Hokage. A prestigious job indeed.

He was the perfect subordinate, who took his orders without question – but there was bending here and there. As Light shifted another pile of scrolls over to the 'scrutinised' pile, an unusually monochrome box of scrolls caught his eye.

It was almost too low-key for this room of elaborately decorated scrolls of jutsu, and seemed purposefully hidden in the corner, amidst bird-summons and cat-summons. Light was definitely curious, and as he hesitantly slid out a random scroll from this black box, a defined character caught his eye.

"Death…" He inadvertently made contact with the thin rope sealing the scroll, and as his hands burned briefly, he gave a cry of pain.

_Someone wants to hide the contents of this scroll from me …_Light frowned. He was quite clueless as to the contents, and when he was in a state of cluelessness, frustration soon followed, quite possibly preceding anger.

He soon came across almost a scribbled indentation in the circular rod of the scroll. As he squinted, he finally came to a realisation.

"Ryuu…ku…" Suddenly the scroll came to life.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Tsunade was impatient. Finally, the source of her impatience appeared in a puff of smoke, but her hangover that day was so piercing and so _annoying _that the quite 'pop' sounds only sought to aggravate her even further.

"Kakashi! You're late."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Godaime-sama. I got lost on the road of life, and …"

"Just shut up and let me order you around," Tsunade growled. Kakashi obediently closed his mouth and lazily looked, anticipating a mission request. She instead looked at him in a vaguely despairing manner.

"There were another 4 deaths this morning," she said, subdued. Kakashi suddenly regained attention.

"Chakra strangulation?!"

"…Yes," Tsunade admitted. "This issue is annoying me, and although this guy's killing criminals and not innocent civilians … I want to know how he's doing it. Why he's doing it."

"Would you want me to find out?" Kakashi inquired, so sure of her answer that he slowly began making his way to the door.

"No, Kakashi. You may be a focal part in this issue, but this is not your area of expertise – we don't need someone to destroy the enemy, or smoke him out. We need someone to find out who he is and how he is doing it,"

Kakashi waved his hand. "Then you want me to find someone," he opened the door and made his way out.

"I need you to find him," she shot out before the door was closed. Kakashi stopped so suddenly that his sandals squeaked on the tiled floor. As she heard the sound, Tsunade briefly kneaded her forehead.

She really didn't want to have to make him do this.

True enough, a visibly shaken Kakashi returned through the door. "Is it really that bad?" he asked, awed.

"He was in your old ANBU squad, and you're the only one who knows where he is, annoyingly," Tsunade said irritably. "So get him to come as soon as he can if not faster, and see what he can make of this,"

There was an awful pause as Kakashi digested the information. "Yes, ma'am."

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Oh my goodness, you got promoted?!" a screech of a young kunoichi hurtled through the corridor as she overheard the conversation between her elder brother and her mother.

"Calm down, Sayu, it's nothing to make a ruckus about," Light said exasperatedly, in reality aching to get the privacy gained by going behind his screen door.

"I think I can make a ruckus about the fact that you're now the Chief Advisor to the Advisor to the Hokage? Can't I?" Sayu now seemed confused. "Unless I'm not meant to say?"

"Of course you can say," Light laughed. "Just concerned with my dignity. Now I do have to go to my room, there's some work that Shizune-san assigned me to do." Sayu grinned.

"Okay, then!" she trilled. Light as casually as he could climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

After the sound of the screen door sliding along the wooden door frames came to a halt, Light finally rushed to grab the scroll that slid out the scroll pockets on his Chuunin vest.

The names were growing in number.

"Oh geez, Light … you've put more names in that scroll than I ever remember Shidou putting on his…"

"Who's Shidou, Ryuk?"

"No one that matters." Ryuk was a warped being clothed in black robes; eyes lolling precariously in emaciated sockets and unruly black hair spiking in all directions. He licked his dry darkly-coloured lips.

"Do you have to seal me in that scroll every time you go outside?" he whined.

"Of course, Ryuk. You're just a summon, after all," Light coolly explained. "Although you may be able to hide yourself from the human eye, a lot of people in this village sense chakra, and you exude it from yourself in the most obvious way, if I may point it out."

"Well, you could just be looking extra hard," Ryuk said sourly. "Do you have any apples round here?"

"Some in my pouch." Ryuk emitted a gleeful sound as he zoomed over to Light's utilities pouch, where, true to Light's word, two shining apples gleamed with goodness.

"Youran Tanaka. Satoshi Nakamura. Naoko Kojikata," Light drummed out, carefully brushing the names into the scroll. The chakra signature needed along with the name to kill the named seeped along his brush, sinking into the ink.

Two murderers and a hostage-taker from the Land of Mist. Light smiled.

_Ryuk had literally shot out of the scroll after Light had read out his name. Although he had been thrown backward by the force of his chakra, Ryuk came to a juddering stop just before he reached the wall, and then slowly stretched into inhuman contortions, all sorts of joints realigning themselves with sweat-inducing clicking. After this ritual, he slowly turned to Light, who was moaning in fear._

"_Finally. Someone finally releases me out of that hellhole. God, at last!" Ryuk made a peculiar sound which Light reasoned was the equivalent of a whoop in whatever land he had come from. "So … how many names have you written?" _

"…_Names?" _

"_Oh dear, dear, dear. You haven't done anything, have you?" Ryuk practically tutted. "Well, I'll be coming back to you soon," he flitted to the door._

"_Wait!" Light sputtered. Ryuk turned around in curiosity. "Why are you going to come back?"_

_Ryuk's head cocked to one side, and he made a hoarse giggle. "Well, that scroll you're holding was mine; I was sealed in it 'til just now. And now it's yours,"_

_Light's eyes widened. Ryuk's eyes rolled. "God, I'm bored," he groaned out before promptly passing through the wall. _

-*-*-*-*-*-

The silver-haired ninja landed softly on top of the tell-tale rocks that signified the entrance to the underground hideout. As he straightened, he vaguely wondered how on earth he could get down there without getting killed by the old man.

As if he was listening, said old man pummelled into him, and Kakashi only just remembered to carry out a classic ANBU swivelling move, quickly throwing him a comfortable distance away.

However, it seemed that this man quickly recognised Kakashi's features and immediately stopped his attacks with a grace that was unmatched. Kakashi awkwardly cleared his throat – he never really was on top form when he was around this unnerving bodyguard.

"I hear that the Hokage is going to get a cat next week," he said as casually as he could in the circumstances. The grey hair on the old man's temples glinted as he glared at the intruder spouting coded nonsense.

"Leave him, Watari."

A fairly deep toned manly voice resounded from behind Kakashi, making him sigh with regret about how his former squad member had most likely improved his infiltration skills.

"It has been a long time, Sempai," he said, part-warily and part in a tone that Kakashi couldn't quite interpret. _Pleased?_

The former ANBU member was crouching on a large boulder, eyes wide with childlike curiosity and thumb resolutely in mouth.

"Likewise, Ryuzaki," Kakashi returned cordially to his most difficult former squadron member.

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW. Orange likes comments :3**


	2. Chapter 2: Setting the Scene

**A/N: Aaaaaand here's Chapter 2!**

Chapter 2: Preparations

"Do it." L hissed, as Tsunade resignedly nodded her head.

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Why've all the Chuunins and Jounins been summoned here? It can barely fit all the Chuunins…" Genma grumbled as Shikamaru sighed.

"The Hokage's not speaking," Kakashi said lightly, fingers quietly fidgeting, hidden in his pockets.

"I've heard it's a delegate from another country," Shikamaru inputted casually.

Suddenly the Hokage at the front of the room cleared her throat. "I have personally invited a detective – we must deal with the recent influx of chakra strangulation deaths; and now I'd like to invite Ryuga Hideki to take the opportunity to talk with you all … this includes the Chuunins and Jounins of the other countries, watching via telescreen," she indicated to the water-powered televisions.

The lanky man stood sturdily, determinedly looking at the back of the hall. "My name is Ryuga Takahashi, but I'm more widely known as the private investigator, 'L'."

The audience descended into a flurry of muttering. _The L? The one that solved the case in Mizugakure? The one that said he'd never show his face? The all-powerful ninja?!_

Light Yagami had heard of this guy in vague snippets of reports given to the Hokage; but the only outward sign of his acknowledgement of his situation was a slight movement of the head. A swish of robes only heard to him acknowledged the presence of Ryuk, the Shinigami, who promptly started relaxing in mid air as he would have on Light's tatami floor.

"Do not say _anything_." Light calmly said quietly, voice laced with menace. Ryuk shivered.

"I say to the perpetrator of these murders …" It seemed the man steeled himself even further. "You have committed the most abominable act in history."

Light's eyes widened imperceptibly. _What…?!_

"I vow to catch the one behind it … known now as 'Kira', at any cost"

"_You fool."_ Light hissed imperceptibly. Ryuk looked marginally more interested. "It's all in the notebook. If you don't have the scroll, you can't possibly catch me – I expected the authorities to do something like this …"

Ryuk, if he were human, would have probably raised an eyebrow.

"Kira. I think I have a pretty good idea of what you're trying to do and why you're doing it. But what you're doing is _evil!_"

Light let out his breath in a slow sigh. _Evil? I am justice! I am the God placed to save the weak and create a perfect world! Those who oppose the God are the ones that are evil!_

Tsunade nodded towards Light and the other advisors to Shizune – the signal to them, as official archivists, to begin taking notes. But Light took out a different scroll from his flak jacket; Ryuk let out a snort of sleepy surprise.

_I brushed past you on my way in. Now I don't need to do the jutsu to get your chakra signature, since I already have traces on myself._ Light was first at the ready with a brush well dipped in ink, and started scrawling the name on his scroll. He smirked.

_You're just too stupid L. If you were only a little smarter … we could have had some more fun!_ Light surreptitiously closed the Death Scroll in the cover of his normal scroll, and began taking notes.

As if nothing had happened, the detective continued to speak, charismatically strutting at the front of the room. "Police all over have begun to investigate, and…"

In the crucial pause, Light's teeth gritted, and his eyes took a slightly darker sheen.

_Let the world see what happens when you go against Kira!_

Ryuga Takahashi's body seized suddenly, eyes widening and almost extending out of their eye sockets. The chakra system whirling around his body had come to a complete standstill – soon enough, the organs sustaining the body sputtered to a stop, and the lifeless detective slammed into the ground amidst the roar of the crowd.

"Oh my god, what the hell's happened?!" a Chuunin shouted in dismay.

"Our only hope, completely extinguished?" a cynical Jounin said. Kakashi stayed resolutely silent to the uproar, and his hopes were confirmed when he sensed a familiar chakra signature.

A young man hidden behind the curtain separated his hands to make two jutsus using one-handed seals on each.

_Ninpou: Nikusei Zoufuku!_

_Ninpou: Nikusei Fukumen! _

As the man spoke, his voice was at once amplified and scrambled – and no member of the room could have naturally heard the source of the voice.

"Unbelievable…"

Light almost dropped his scroll in shock as the other occupants of the room looked around blindly.

"I did this on the off-chance that you would kill 'me'… so, you can actually kill people without being nearby."

Light's eyes were widened without restraint, Ryuk's head bobbing disconcertingly beside his, suddenly interested in the situation.

"It's true after all. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. But this was the only way you could have killed them, wasn't it?"

The occupants of the room were gradually warming up to the prospect of L being a lot more powerful than he was taken granted for.

"Listen to me, _Kira._ The person you killed was actually a prisoner sentenced to be executed at this time today. Not me. He was a criminal imprisoned without any media attention, so of course even you didn't know he existed."

Ryuk noticed that Light's fist was shaking around the brush that he'd used to write the fate of 'Ryuga Takahashi'. "Heh. Well, he got you there." The shaking increased.

"But I, L, am real! … So why don't you try and kill me!" The crowd turned deathly silent as Light's lips started twitching from anxiety.

_So…son of a…_

"What the hell?"

"Are you asking for it?!"

"What's wrong?" L's voice, although scrambled, sounded sinister and yet mocking at the same time. "Can't do it? Well, it seems that you can't kill me after all..."

Light's clenched fist finally was too much strain for the brush, which snapped in two in the uproar.

"So there are some people you can't kill. Well, thanks for the hint. In exchange, let me tell you something."

Light could practically sense the bastard smirking.

"Hokage-sama did say that this was being broadcast worldwide, but actually … those TVs aren't working. I only showed it to this room. I was thinking of doing it in other countries along with a proper live audience, but now that's unnecessary, since I know you're in this room."

As the onlookers started looking at each other in mild curiosity and disgust, Light finally straightened himself out. "Will the Death Scroll not work if not used with the brush that came with it?"

"Of course it won't."

"Good."

L carried on. "Kira… I am extremely interested in your method of killing. I will figure this out… when I catch you!"

This was the last straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

_L…_

"Kira…"

"I will hunt you down and destroy you!" The two young men said with vociferous voices, one scrambled, and one internal.

"I am Justice!"

-*-*-*-*-*-

A neatly dressed silver-haired Jounin and a considerably more scraggly black-haired ninja who refused to wear the flak vest walked side by side away from the Daimyo's house.

"I see you're still the idealistic brat that left all those years ago."

"I am a childish person, sempai. I relish the challenge that Kira has brought me."

"Don't go in too deep, Ryuzaki." Kakashi warned. "If this case is too hard to handle, there are always others who can help you."

"Are you referring to those at the House?" he asked nonchalantly. "I don't know them that well, and I am confident that I am much more intelligent than some of the children there could ever be."

"… I see… you became the representative of the House…"

"I am the 12th head of the family. Therefore I am named L. I would appreciate it if you would drop 'Ryuzaki' and call me 'L' instead, for the purpose of the investigation.

"Why would I do that?" Kakashi asked playfully.

"You will be playing a pivotal role in the investigation." Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks.

"How so?" he asked darkly. "I told you before, I will have nothing more to do with your plans."

"It is highly probable that the Hokage will send her best-qualified ninja, including you, to assist me. If you request her to take you off the list, I will order you to come," he said clinically.

Kakashi resolutely walked off. L's thumb found its way to his mouth, and after biting the end decisively, suddenly appeared in front of Kakashi, blocking his way to the Memorial Stone.

"There are others that can more than adequately fill my place. _Let me pass,_" he said.

"Do you really think that I'm so mature that I'll let you go and pay condolences to your long-dead teammates before you accept the position?" Kakashi flinched, and carried out an old ANBU meditation method to dispel anger, just in case.

"I could just not turn up," he inputted.

"You will. Even if you are 3 hours late. I know that you have been relegated to challenging field missions or menial missions helping Genin teams. You want something difficult that is closer to home and pays well."

Kakashi glared at his raccoon-eyed former subordinate before curtly nodding, provoking a wan smile and a short, equally curt respectful bowing of the head.

"The Hokage will be summoning you in person, early in the morning. It'd be best for you to disable the wire traps in your entrance, unless you like Tsunade-hime losing her temper in the small hours."

Kakashi sighed as L disappeared. How long had he known about his penchant for security?

**A/N: Again, please review!**


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